If I could only pass along one lesson from Tuesday's episode of "America's Got Talent," it would be this: Out of all the places a magician can go with traditional card tricks, his own posterior cleavage should not be one of them.

No, really. It happened. "Mad Jack" invited Howard Stern to pick a card, then dropped the deck down his backside, shook it out the leg of his pants ... then dropped his waistband and asked Stern to see if that was his card, you know, back there. It probably works great in bars, which Mad Jack described as his normal habitat, but in this context it earned him the hook. Show host Nick Cannon praised the censor who spared viewers a graphic view of the situation.

That was one hairy butt! Y'all be happy they blurred that out on #AGT! Thank you censors!

There were more lessons packed into the two-hour audition show, the second episode of the high-rated show's ninth season. Well, maybe calling them "lessons" is pushing it, but some eyebrow-raising stuff did happen.

The rundown:

1. Cute kids will not be denied: The Willis Clan, a gaggle of 12 siblings from Tennessee, drew favorable comparisons to the Partridge Family. Julia Goodwin, a 15-year-old singer from New York, got the four judges all fired up. Pint-sized card thrower Dom the Bom showed that a pre-teen can be as polished a showman as anyone.

2. There's just something about Howie: Judge Howie Mandel, for whatever reason, seems to make the most memorable trips to the stage as a "volunteer." This time around, he was flummoxed by the "pressure phrenology" of David and Leeman, a duo of magicians who temporarily suppressed his ability to read. Their most magical trick so far, however, was keeping themselves out of a montage of magic acts that didn't make it. (In a pre-performance interview, Leeman offered the following sorcerous revelation: "We both have day jobs because right now magic's not paying the bills.")

3. The line between martial arts and comedy continues to be a blurry one: Last week had the kung-fu satire of Dustin's Dojo. This week had grand master Qi Feilong, whose displays of mastery included having Cannon kick him in the crotch. The judges were definitely impressed, insofar as horror is an impression. Qi Feilong did not advance.

4. Jaycob Curlee doesn't have the fresh young male singer-songwriter category to himself anymore. The 18-year-old from Daphne made a triumphant appearance in the premiere, but this episode brought Miguel, a 21-year-old from Colorado who thrilled the audience with a solo acoustic take on Alex Clare's "Too Close." Mel B gushed that "he doesn't have a girlfriend, he can cook, and he loves his mother." Even before the performance, Curlee seemed to know what was coming.

5. There's just no category for some things. When Stern told the members of the Real Encounter team that the name sounded "like a porno website," they answered that they were the opposite. This led to the following surreal exchange: "What is the opposite of pornography?" "Well, we're actually a ministry." The Christian extreme stunt team advanced, as did a jump-rope team, an extreme pogo-stick acrobatic squad and an aerialist whose routines featured interaction with an animated backdrop.

6. If a straight man and a gay man team up as a salsa dancing duo, can they provoke a reaction beyond bemused curiosity? The answer, courtesy of John and Andrew, was an emphatic yes, with all four judges singing their praises after a dazzlingly fast routine. "This is pretty inspirational because I think we live in a time of transition," said Stern. "The fact is you're both terrific dancers, I think you're an exciting addition to our competition, and I love what you do." Then he and Mandel joined the two for a round of dance that was half salsa, half disco.